stop making excuses

I make excuses because I’m scared. I’m in a zone, a comfort zone, and I don’t want to go outside the zone because, good grief, something might happen! I’m always thinking the worst: I’ll be embarrassed by someone or something, I’ll get lost and no one will come to my rescue, I’ll screw something up and fumble around until I make it just okay. But you know, usually things don’t turn out as bad as I had dreamed it up in my mind. Yeah, sometimes I do get lost or mess something up but really it isn’t all that bad. But more and more I’m pretty happy to stay at home and not do anything different from what I’ve done for the last 10 years. There’s nothing wrong with being a homebody but I need to meet a few people and socialize. It’s time to stop, go out and meet some people and enjoy life (another goal). No excuses.

This item was the first on my list because I am sick and tired of my own excuses. I make excuses for everything. A friend is playing music at club? Oh, I can’t go because I’ll never find a parking space. Oh, you’ll drive me there…well, it is awfully late and I have to go to work tomorrow. We’ll only stay an hour? Well, it is a bar and my hair will stink from the cigarette smoke…I’ll have to take a shower when I get home.

See? That’s the kind of thing that’s driving me crazy. I feel like I’m holding myself back. I’m missing a lot of great opportunities because of my excuses. Yes, I know that I’m making excuses because I’m scared. Maybe I should put that on my list too. The thing is that once I am there (wherever there is), I usually have a good time and I’m glad I stuck with it.

This is the thing that I want to work on the most. If I can quit making excuses it will force me out into the world and possibly help me with some of the other things on my list.